Jan. 27, 2007

Box Score |  Quotes |  Notes

MILWAUKEE - Troy Cotton scored 23 points and the University of Wisconsin-Green Bay withstood a furious rally by the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee to claim a 73-67 win Saturday afternoon at the U.S. Cellular Arena.

Avery Smith scored 17 points and had seven assists to lead the Panthers, but his layup with 1:06 remaining was wiped out by an offensive foul call that led to a technical foul on UWM head coach Rob Jeter.

Milwaukee had rallied from 12 points down with 1:49 remaining to pull withing five with 1:23 remaining but would never get closer than four after the basket by Smith was waved off.

UWM struggled much of the first half, trailing by as many as 16 points, but pulled to within four at the 12:36 mark on a dunk by Marcus Skinner. But, in the end, Green Bay's 48.9 percent shooting clip and 22-11 edge at the foul line was too much to overcome.

Ryan Evanochko added 18 points and Mike Schachtner contributed 15 for the Phoenix (12-9, 4-4 Horizon), which won in Milwaukee for the first time since 1998.

Kevin Massiah pitched in with 15 points and Paige Paulsen had 12 for the Panthers (7-16, 4-6), who lost for just the second time in their last six home games.

Neither UWM head coach Rob Jeter or Smith had much to say about the controversial late call that went against the Panthers, with Jeter instead focusing on how long it took his team to get going.

"It was just a little too late," Jeter said. "The things we talked about trying to do, like touch the post and get the ball inside to create some opportunities to score, we didn't get in to some of those things until Green Bay had a nice lead on us. Then we ran out of time after that."

UWM's stirring rally started when Smith hit a three to pull the Panthers within 64-55 with 1:38 remaining. The Panthers then stole the in bounds pass and pulled within seven on a layup by Smith six seconds later. Another steal and layin by Smith brought Milwaukee to within 64-59 with 1:23 left, but the offensive foul on Smith followed 17 seconds later and basically ended the Panthers' comeback.

Milwaukee nearly found itself out of the game in the first minutes as Green Bay rode red-hot shooting to a 16-point lead 15 minutes into the game. The run that put the Phoenix ahead turned a 7-all tie into a 32-16 UWGB lead with 4:55 remaining.

The Panthers fought back from there, though, cutting the lead to 10 points on a three by Kevin Massiah and eventually to 35-27 at the break on a pair of Smith free throws in the final minutes. UWM could have been even closer, but a Smith layin 20 seconds before his free throws was wiped out by an offensive foul call 45 feet behind the play.

The Panthers return to action Monday night, hosting Cleveland State in a 7 p.m. contest at the U.S. Cellular Arena.